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Nurses set for 'intensive' talks with government after strike paused

PA Media Nurses on the picket line in Birmingham on 6 FebruaryPA Media

Intensive talks are due to start later between ministers and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) after the union halted next week's 48-hour strike in England.

Health Secretary Stephen Barclay will sit down with RCN leader Pat Cullen to discuss a compromise deal to end the stand-off over pay.

The talks are likely to focus on next year's pay rise, which is due in April.

One option is to backdate it by several months, effectively giving nurses an extra pay boost for part of this year.

Nurses - and other NHS staff except doctors - were given an average of 4.75% this year.

That award had prompted a wave of strikes by unions representing nurses, ambulance staff and physios, who wanted an above-inflation increase.

The Treasury has refused to sanction any revisiting of that award, fearing it would fuel inflation.

But the resumption of talks came after the government set out its plan for next year's pay award.

It has suggested an increase of 3.5% for all NHS staff in its submission to the independent NHS Pay Review Body.

The final offer though could be higher - in previous years the pay review body has recommended more than the government initially offered, to which the government has subsequently agreed.

If next year's pay award is backdated to before April, it would effectively mean a double boost in pay for those months.

Speaking ahead of the talks, Ms Cullen said: "We will put our plans on the table, they can put their plans on the table - but I'm confident that we will come out with a fair pay settlement for our nursing staff."

She added they would make sure no stone was left unturned and a fair pay deal was reached as quickly as possible so they could end the strikes.

Government sources said they were delighted to be back talking again and were determined to reach a "fair and reasonable settlement".

PA Media Nurses with placards outside the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Victoria Tower Gardens, LondonPA Media

Other health unions said they were disappointed not to have been invited to the discussions.

A spokesman for one, Unison, said the government's decision to meet just the RCN alone - and not them as well - would do "nothing to solve the NHS pay dispute".

As the talks were taking place, the union announced a walkout across nine of England's 10 ambulance services on 8 March. A smaller number of other services, including hospitals and NHS Blood and Transplant, will also be involved.

'Sigh of relief'

Next week's walkout by RCN members in England, from 1 to 3 March, was set to be the biggest strike of this winter's pay dispute, with half of frontline services affected.

The action would have included nursing staff from intensive care units, cancer care and other services that were previously exempted.

Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive at NHS Providers which represents health managers, said the NHS would be "breathing a sign of relief".

"The past weeks have seen a worrying escalation of industrial action, which has hit patients hard. This is the glimmer of hope we all needed," he added.

The NHS, however, faces further industrial action from unions representing ambulance drivers and junior doctors, and more strike dates could yet be announced.

  • Junior doctors in England have voted to strike, possibly as early as mid-March. Sources at the British Medical Association (BMA) have said the demand for more pay following a 26% cut - what they estimate the drop in earnings has been once inflation is taken into account since 2008 - does not necessarily need to be paid in one go, but until the government agrees to restoring pay, industrial action would go ahead. The union has yet to decide whether to strike elsewhere in the UK.
  • Ambulance staff in the Unite and GMB unions have further strikes planned.
  • Meanwhile, teachers in parts of England are going ahead with planned strikes next week. The National Education Union has rejected the government's invitation to formal pay talks in return for pausing the industrial action, but its joint general secretary Kevin Courtney said the national executive, which meets on Saturday, could change that decision.

The Scottish government has offered NHS staff - including nurses - a new pay offer for the coming year which includes a one-off payment and an average salary rise of 6.5% from April.

In Wales, nurses are currently being balloted over a new pay deal from the Welsh government, and the RCN has put some planned walkouts for February on hold.